Little Girl Who?
by data2link
Summary: He met his daughter when she was 5 yrs old and she is now 13. The little girl that he once new for only it seems a few moments is in need of her father. His life will be changed forever as he tries to break down the walls this little girl has put up.
1. Little Girl Who?

**Little Girl Who?**

This story takes place approximately 8 years from the first time that Thomas Magnum met his daughter the first time when she was 5 yrs old. He hasn't seen her since then, and she is now 13. The little girl that he once new for only (it seems) a few moments is in need of her father. His life will now be changed forever as he tries to break down the walls this little girl has put up.

**Chapter 1**

Thomas walks into the church and peers down the aisle past the benches. He sees a young girl sitting down with earphones on listening to her walkman. She has long black wavy hair that is hard to see since she's wearing a ball cap backwards. As he stands there in awe peering down the aisle at her, he's thinking 'This can't be the same little girl I met 8 years ago!'

Just then the social worker and a nun walk up to him. "Mr. Magnum, can I have a word with you over here for a minute" she asks quietly as they walk to another room. "Oh sure" Tom says as he follows her. They sit down at the table in the room, and the social worker lets him in on what's been going on with Lilly and what he can expect from her.

"Mr. Magnum. I just want to make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into, and make sure that you really want to take on this challenge, and that you're ready for it" Tom is adamant about taking his daughter home with him. "Trust me; there is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind about my daughter and taking her home with me. I've been waiting for this day for 8 years!" he says. "She will have everything that she ever needs".

The social worker lets him know that she knows how he feels, but his daughter needs a lot of help right now. "I understand how you feel Mr. Magnum, but she will need a lot of support from everyone involved in her life, including routine, structure, and discipline. She is a very angry young girl. Seeing her mother killed affected her very much, as it would for anybody, let alone a little girl. Since she's been in protective custody, she's been a very confused girl. She's fighting in school, and her grades are slipping. We know that she needs to be with her father, as long as you can provide the help that she needs to come out of this."

Thomas is very angry about the death of Lilies mother and the fact that she had to witness it. He can understand why she's a little messed up and angry. He feels that she is justified for feeling the way she does. It's hitting him now that he has his hands full, and he feels for Lilly, he loves her very much. But he feels the need to defend her, it's his daughter… "Well, maybe she was fighting to defend herself? I'd be an angry kid too if I had been through all that she has been through".

The social worker stands up. "We feel that it's time for her to be in a normal atmosphere, which means being with family. That means you, as her father, need to take over. Let's go meet her shall we?" The nun hesitates the nturns to Tom: "Don't be surprised if she acts like she hates you!"

Tom stands up, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time, I'm ready to take my daughter home with me, whether she hates me or not"

The social worker lets him know "the only thing left is the healing process", as they walk out to go meet Lilly.

_[Next Chapter- Tom takes Lilly home.]_

It's been years since I've written anything, so please let me know what you think. I have about 4 more chapters to continue this story :) I'm also going to update my other story soon.


	2. Lilly Goes Home

**Chapter 2 – Lilly goes home**

The social worker and Thomas head down the aisle to the front of the room where Lilly is sitting. She is sitting with her head in her hand leaning against the armrest of the chair just staring in to space. "Lilly" the social worker taps her on the shoulder. "I would like you to meet your father- Thomas Magnum." "Hi Lilly" Thomas says. Lilly looks up at him and discreetly rolls her eyes and doesn't say anything back. She's really angry that she has to leave her friends and come to Hawaii. She remembers meeting her dad when she was 5 and how she wanted to stay with him.

The social worker is ready to leave Tom and Lilly to start their life together. "I'm going to be leaving now, Lilly, you have my number if you ever need to talk or need anything, please call me". Lilly just mutters "Whatever" as she watches her walk away. As she is leaving, Tom is left standing looking down at Lilly who still hasn't moved. He reaches down and picks up her bag and tells her "Let's go home Lilly." Lilly gets up with her backpack and they head outside where Tom has parked the Blazer. He figured it would be a better ride than the Ferrari since there would be luggage.

As they are riding back to the estate, neither one of them are talking. Thomas begins thinking about what he's going to write in his book; 'The whole drive back to the estate she just sat there. As I would look over at her, she looked so innocent, yet I couldn't get what that social worker said out of my head. She just looks like a lost little girl who needs direction in her life. But then I wonder if it would have been different if I was in her life, if I would have made her mother let her stay with me. '

They arrive at the estate and pull up next to the Ferrari. As they get out of the car, for the first time Lilly speaks. "I remember this car, you still have it huh… that's cool." She says in a slightly French accent. "Yep, she still runs like a charm. Come on- let's get you settled in" As they start walking to the guest house Thomas notices that the ball cap Lilly is wearing is the one he gave her when she was little- the Detroit Tigers cap. He just smiles as they walk into the guest house.

The guest house is different than Lilly remembers it. They have added on an extra room and a bathroom. Thomas show's Lilly to her room. "This is your room, and your bathroom is right across the hall here"

Lilly throws her backpack on her bed and sits down on it. She looks around at her new room and thinks 'This sucks'. But deep inside she's scared. She doesn't know her dad, and she's mad that now he wants to be in her life, 'why now?' she thinks 'is it because he _wants_ to be- or _has_ to be'. She reaches over and pulls out her Gameboy and loses herself in the games so she doesn't have to think about it.

Thomas has left Lilly to settle in and is heading over to the main house to let Higgins know he's back. He once again starts talking to himself;

'A good friend once told me that anybody can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad. I figure that either that person wasn't a father at all, or he had a perfect kid. I've always been a believer that you need to let a kid have their space to grow and learn. But now that it's my own I'm not so sure. I have a lot of work to do. How do I get through to an angry young girl who watched her mother get killed? Although I don't always agree with what Higgins has to say, I figure I need some serious help here'.

He walks in and Higgins is sitting at his desk typing. The lads are lying next to the desk and perk up. Higgins looks up over the top of his glasses at Thomas "did you pick up your daughter yet or did you forget". He heads over to the cart with the alcohol on it "Yes, I picked her up. She's settling into her room" he says as he takes a sip of the drink he just poured himself. Higgins, noticing something is wrong, stands up to get himself a drink as well. "You don't sound so enthused. When you left you were ecstatic. What's wrong Magnum?"

"When I let her go with her mom 8 years ago, she was a cute little 5 year old that just wanted her daddy. Now she's a 13 year old girl and I have no idea who she is." Tom says in a disappointed tone.

"Well you do know that unlike yourself most kids do grow up" Higgins tells him to try to lighten the mood.

"I'm serious Higgins"

"So am I" Higgins confesses.

"I'm worried about her. She won't talk to me, she's been fighting at school and she's failing some of her classes." They both pause for a moment as they take another sip of their drinks. Higgins is feeling sorry for Magnum. This is the first time he's seen him so serious about anything, but he realizes the love that he has for his daughter and how much this means to him. "What can I do to help" he asks.

"Well… I don't know, I don't even know where to start". Thomas says in a sad, disappointed tone.

"You start by getting to know her, what she likes; dislikes…get into her world with her. It's not easy being a father and you're getting a late start."

Thomas realizes that's some good advice, he's kind of surprised, but then maybe not so much- it is Higgins after all. "How do you know so much about kids?" As Higgins puts his drink down and starts to walk over to the desk to sit down, he begins to tell one of his long and many stories… "When I was in…" Thomas sees this as the perfect time to disappear.


	3. Unfamiliar Territory

**Little Girl Who? (Chapter 3)**

**Unfamiliar Territory**

As Magnum is walking back to the guest house with his hands in his pocket, Carol drives up. He thinks to himself "Oh am I glad to see Carol, she's a woman, and maybe she can help me out". Carol is excited, she jumps out of her car, "Hi Tom, I came to see Lilly…" she pauses- noticing the not so happy response in Toms body language..."You did pick her up right?" She says in a worried voice.

"Of course I did- why does everyone keep asking me that?" tom says in a frustrated tone. Carol just gives him a look like 'come on… we all know that you forget a lot of things'. Tom looks at her and continues to walk towards the house as he tells her what's going on with Lilly. "I was so excited to see her when I went to pick her up. But unfortunately she's not too excited to see me. She's a very troubled kid, and I'm afraid I don't know what to do!"

Carol sees the desperation in Tom and gives him a little advice. "You know, a girl needs her father to be there for her no matter what, through good times and bad times. She's obviously going to be scared; she hasn't seen you since she was five years old. Put yourself in her shoes. Just be there for her, let her know that you're available. Be her father." Tom looks at her and just smiles in relief that she is there. Carol smiles back. "You're going to be fine!" she says. "Thanks Carol" Tom replies in a more relaxed tone. "Come on in and meet Lilly".

As they walk in Tom yells for Lilly but she doesn't answer. He goes to her room but she's not there. He looks at Carol "She's not here, great, my first day as a father and my kid disappears". Carol suggests that perhaps she went to look around the estate, or to the beach. They both head out to the beach, and from a distance they see Lilly sitting on the sand watching the waves roll in. Carol steps back and tells Tom "Go talk to her, I'll wait here". As she watches him walk out to Lilly, she's thinking 'He's going to make a great father'.

Tom Approaches Lilly and sits next to her in the sand. She just looks at him then looks back out into the ocean without saying a word. She's scared of this tall man who she vaguely remembers meeting as a little girl. She thinks to herself; 'Is this really my dad'.

Tom is also not talking; just sitting next to his daughter for now is good enough. He's so happy that she is now in his life. But yet, he's scared of what type of father he will be for her. As he's sitting there he thinks; 'she looks just like her mother and yet she kind of looks like me'. He knows he needs to say something, so being the first one to break the silence he says "It's beautiful isn't it?" Lilly replies in a quiet voice "Yeah, I guess so, I mean...it's ok" Tom hesitates on what he's going to say next, and then remembers Carol is waiting behind them. "I have someone I'd like you to meet. You met her before, but that was a long time ago". He stands up and starts to walk back. Lilly stands up and reluctantly starts to follow him to the gate where Carol is standing with tears in her eyes.

"Lilly, do you remember Carol?" Tom asks. Carol gives Lilly a hug right away. "Lilly you've grown up so much. I'm so happy to see you again". Lilly gives a little hug back, but she really doesn't remember her at all. She gives a little "hi" as they embrace. Carol senses that she is uncomfortable and tries to make her feel better and open up a little bit. "We are going to have to go shopping, how does that sound?" "That would be fun" she says in quiet shy tone. She's very apprehensive. She's not going to get close to anybody just in case she has to leave again, she doesn't want to get hurt.


End file.
